Vending-machine door



Jan. 4, 1966 D. s. SAWREY 3,227,500

VENDING-MACHINE DOOR Filed Dec. 22, 1964 INVENTOR DAV/D 51 SAM/RE) BY I) United States Patent 0.

3,227,500 VENDING-MACHINE DOOR David S. Sawrey, 37 E. Cherry St., Cedar Springs, Mich. Filed Dec. 22, 1964, Ser. No. 420,263 4 Claims. (Cl. 312-35) It is common practice to vend small articles such as candy and balls of gum in machines that discharge these items one by one down a chute in response to operation of a handle and the insertion of a coin. The point of dis charge of the chute is usually covered by a metal door pivoted to the machine above the discharge opening. These doors occasionally are provided withrearward extensions arranged to block the movement of the articles down the chute so that they do not knock the door open by their inertia. As the door is swung open, the articles supposedly fall into a waiting hand.

The efiect is not always as planned. If the inertia of the articles is large, it is still possible for the door to be knocked open, even though the rest position of the door is at a considerable incline tending normally to close it. The clatter of the operation of the machine obscures the sound of the article coming down the chute, and the customer is not sure until he opens the door whether the machine has delivered.

Applicant has devised an improvement in these machines in the form of a door that entraps the articles coming down the chute on a shelf, and retains them there until the door has swung out through a substantial sector. The effect of inertia may well be enough to swing the door open, but the article remains on the shelf instead of descending to the floor. The swing-out under inertia may be greater than the upward inclination of the shelf without dumping the article, as the swing-back of the door under gravity will tend to hold the article on the shelf.

The preferred form of the invention involves the use of transparent material for the door to provide a visual indication of the presence of an article on the shelf, so that the customer will know that his operation of the machine has been successfully completed. This feature tends to prevent abuse of the machine, as often occurs in cases where the customer is not sure that the machine has properly performed its function. The several features of the invention will be analyzed in further detail through a discussion of the particular embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawing. In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a conventional machine equipped with a door embodying this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary front elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the door area. of the machine shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the door shown in FIGURE 2 in the normal rest position, without the surrounding machine structure. 1

FIGURE 4 is a section on the plane 4--4 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary front elevation showing the pivotal mounting of the door on the machine.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary sectional side elevation,

of the door and the chute prior to the arrival of an article down the chute.

FIGURE 7 is a view of the structure shown in FIG- URE 6, as it would appear immediately on the arrival of an article down the chute, or after the return of the unit to full rest position.

FIGURE 8 illustrates the movement of the door to release a vended article in response to manual lifting of the door.

The machine illustrated in FIGURE 1 has a housing 10 provided with a U-shaped flange 11 extending outwardly to define a discharge opening through which vended artiice cles can emerge from the interior of the machine. A chute 12 communicates with this opening, and the door indicated at 13 is pivotally mounted on the housing through the engagement of the journals 14 and 15 with the recesses 16 and 17 in the boss 18. When the journals have been assembled and placed as shown in FIGURE 5, the presence of the cover plate 19 secured to the housing by the screws 20 and 21 will hold the door 13 in assembled relationship with the machine. The plate 19 is cut away as shown at 22, and the door 13 is also cut away as shown at 23 to avoid interference with the central portion of the plate 19 as the door is swung open.

The door is preferably of a transparent molded plastic of any preferred type, and is provided with the shelf 24 extending upwardly and inwardly when the door is in the normal closed position. The shelf 24 is preferably arcuate at least from side to side, as best shown in FIG.- URE 2. The effect of this shelf is illustrated in FIG- URE 7. An article 25 moving down the chute 12 will engage the shelf 24, and become entrapped in that position. Even though the door may be jarred considerably by this arrival, and even swung substantially outward as a result of it, the article will remain supported on the shelf until the door is manually opened as shown in FIGURE 8 under conditions where inertia factors are not present to any substantial degree. The transparent nature of the door 13 will render the article 25 clearly visible from the front of the machine so that the customer will be aware that his purchase is Waiting for him. He will therefore not be tempted to struggle with the handle 26 (refer to FIGURE 1), or to otherwise abuse the machine in order to accomplish his purpose.

The particular embodiments of the present invention which have been illustrated and discussed herein are for illustrative purposes only, and are not to be considered as a limitation upon the scope of the appended claims. In these claims, it is my intent to claim the entire invention disclosed herein, except as I am limited by the prior art.

-I claim:

1. In combination with a vending machine adapted to vend particular articles, said machine having a housing 1 and a discharge chute at an opening in said housing,

a door pivotally mounted on said housing on a normally horizontal axis adjacent the top of said opening, said door having a shelf on the inside thereof inclined upwardly and inwardly with said door in normal closed position, said shelf forming a barrier in said chute in said closed door position whereby said articles moving down said chute engage said shelf and are retained thereon during initial opening movement of said door.

2. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said shelf is concave upwardly at least from side to side.

3. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said door is of transparent material whereby the presence of an article on said shelf is visible.

4. A combination as defined in claim 1, wherein said shelf is disposed at an intermediate point along the height of said door.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,219,657 3/1917 Melchert 31235 2,614,673 10/ 1952 Obodzinski 221-247 X 3,018,148 1/1962 Probasco 3 l235 SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

A. L. LEVINE, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A VENDING MACHINE ADAPTED TO VEND PARTICULAR ARTICLES, SAID MACHINE HAVING A HOUSING AND A DISCHARGE CHUTE AT AN OPENING IN SAID HOUSING, A DOOR PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID HOUSING ON A NORMALLY HORIZONTAL AXIS ADJACENT THE TOP OF SAID OPENING, SAID DOOR HAVING A SHELF ON THE INSIDE THEREOF INCLINED UPWARDLY AND INWARDLY WITH SAID DOOR IN NORMAL CLOSED POSITION, SAID SHLF FORMING A BARRIER IN SAID CHUTE IN SAID CLOSED DOOR POSITION WHEREBY SAID ARTICLES MOVING DOWN SAID CHUTE ENGAGE SAID SHELF AND ARE RETAINED THEREON DURING INITIAL OPENING MOVEMENT OF SAID DOOR. 